Adaptive Pharmaceutical Product Management Methods and System

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems adaptive storage and management of pharmaceutical product containers at a pharmacy are described. Pharmaceutical product containers are managed so that the containers for more-frequently-used pharmaceutical products are stored among plural storage locations more-efficiently accessible to a pharmacy workstation. Containers for less-frequently-used pharmaceutical products are managed so that the containers for such products are stored among the storage locations which are less-accessible to the pharmacy workstation. As the frequency of pharmaceutical product usage changes, the inventory of pharmaceutical product containers is managed adaptively so that the containers used most frequently are stored at locations more-easily accessible to the pharmacy workstation, thereby facilitating fulfillment of prescriptions by pharmacy personnel. Further efficiencies may be achieved through use of an optical positioning system providing directed placing and picking of pharmaceutical product containers. The methods and system have particular application to management of partially-full pharmaceutical product containers which may be repeatedly taken from and returned to inventory.

FIELD

The field relates generally to pharmaceutical product containermanagement and, more particularly, to container management whichfacilitates prescription order fulfillment as demand for pharmaceuticalproducts changes.

BACKGROUND

Retail, hospital, long-term care and mail-order pharmacies exist tofulfill patient prescription orders. A patient prescription orderconsists of one or more prescriptions for the patient. In order tofulfill patient prescriptions, the pharmacy will typically stock andmanage a large and extensive inventory of pharmaceutical products andother healthcare-related products. Pharmaceutical products includeprescription medications, over-the-counter (OTC) medications,nutriceuticals, supplements and other products required to fulfillpatient prescriptions or otherwise to meet the needs of customers servedby the pharmacy.

Pharmaceutical products are packaged in pharmaceutical productcontainers. As used herein, pharmaceutical product containers are alsoreferred to simply as “containers.” Pharmaceutical product containersmay be any suitable type of package and may include, for example, abottle, a box, a bag or another container type.

Certain pharmaceutical products are routinely stored in bulk-typepharmaceutical product containers. A bulk-type pharmaceutical productcontainer is a container which stores a quantity of a pharmaceuticalproduct in loose, bulk form. The pharmaceutical product is typically intablet form. As used herein, the term “tablet” is intended to refer toany solid-form pharmaceutical product including tablets, gel-caps,capsules, spheres, multi-angles and the like. The pharmaceutical productstored in a bulk-type pharmaceutical product container can also includepowder or liquid-form pharmaceutical product.

Any amount of pharmaceutical product can be stored in a bulk-typepharmaceutical product container. It is common for a bulk-typepharmaceutical product container to store hundreds of tablets or just afew tablets. Tablets are counted out from the bulk-type pharmaceuticalproduct container in order to fulfill a prescription of a prescriptionorder. A bulk-type container may be used many times to fulfill manyprescriptions before all the of the tablets in the container have beenused and the container is discarded.

Another type of pharmaceutical product container is a unit-dose storagecontainer. A unit-dose container is a prepackaged single dose or courseof a pharmaceutical product, such as a week's course of an antibiotic.The entire unit-dose pharmaceutical product container is provided to thepatient by the pharmacy. Unit-dose pharmaceutical product containers areprovided in various forms such as a pre-loaded clamshell package, ablister package, a box or a bottle. Articles such as syringes andinhalers may also be stocked in unit form.

A pharmacy may stock and manage hundreds, or even thousands, ofdifferent pharmaceutical product containers depending on the size andtype of pharmacy.

Pharmacies typically maintain their inventory of pharmaceutical productsin storage locations which can include, for example, shelves, drawers,cabinets, racks, carousels and refrigerators. Pharmacy storage locationscan be automated or non-automated and can be organized and arranged asmodular or non-modular storage systems. Each storage location can befurther organized, arranged or divided into storage locations at whichseparate pharmaceutical product containers are located.

A pharmacy will typically include one or more workstation at whichpharmacy personnel perform work required to fulfill patientprescriptions. A workstation will typically include a computer terminaland a work surface for collection, preparation and verification of thearticles selected to fulfill prescriptions. The pharmacist may stand orsit at the workstation.

In order to fulfill a prescription of a patient prescription order, thepharmacist will typically receive information at the workstationdescribing the type and amount of pharmaceutical product required tofulfill each prescription. The pharmacist then walks from theworkstation to the storage location of the pharmacy at which thepharmaceutical product container for the pharmaceutical product isstored. The pharmacist selects the pharmaceutical product container fromits storage location and carries it back to the workstation. Iftablet-form pharmaceutical product is required, the pharmacist can countout the required quantity of tablets from the bulk storage container atthe workstation. The tablets are placed in a vial or other containerwhich will subsequently be provided to the patient by the pharmacy oncefulfillment of the prescription order is complete. Also at theworkstation, the pharmacist can perform any other tasks required tofulfill the prescription order such as verification of the selectedproduct containers or placing a patient-specific label on a unit-dosepackage. Time and effort is required to select and retrieve thepharmaceutical product container from storage and to return anypartially-full container back to storage.

Accurate and efficient pharmacy operation is important. Pharmacypersonnel must be able to quickly and efficiently locate the storagelocation for each pharmaceutical product in inventory and must be ableto easily select the correct pharmaceutical product container from thestorage location. Pharmaceutical products used most frequently should bestored in storage locations which are most easily accessible to theworkstation used by pharmacy personnel to fulfill the prescriptions. Thestorage locations should also be organized and arranged to maximize theavailable and valuable storage space at the pharmacy.

And, the pharmacy must manage a potentially large and changing inventoryof pharmaceutical product containers required to fulfill theprescription orders. Pharmaceutical product containers are constantlybeing added to, and selected from, the inventory. The inventory ofpharmaceutical product containers will include full containers,partially-full containers and may include multiple containers for thesame pharmaceutical product but with different quantities, lot numbersand expiration dates.

Complicating pharmaceutical product container inventory management isthe fact that the frequency of pharmaceutical product usage changes andis not static. Demand for pharmaceutical products can change, forexample, based on factors such as outbreaks of illnesses (e.g.,influenza), seasonal demands (e.g., antihistamines and allergytreatments may be used more frequently in the spring and summer),introduction of generics, and introduction or discontinuation ofpharmaceutical products. Pharmaceutical product preferences of localphysicians can drive changes in demand for certain pharmaceuticalproducts. The pharmaceutical product container inventory should bemanaged and changed to meet changing patient and customer demand for thepharmaceutical products and so that pharmaceutical products used mostfrequently are most efficiently and easily accessible to the pharmacyworkstation.

A particular problem confronting pharmacy inventory management is theneed to efficiently manage the inventory of partially-fullpharmaceutical product containers which are picked from storage andpotentially placed back into storage many times to fulfill manydifferent prescriptions. A partially-full container is any containerwhich includes fewer than the allotment of tablets or otherpharmaceutical product originally contained in the container.Partially-full containers are commonplace in pharmacy inventoriesbecause pharmaceutical products are routinely supplied in bulk-typecontainers which include an amount of tablets (e.g., 100 to 500 or moretablets) which are intended to be used frequently during a long timeperiod before the container is empty and must be discarded.

Several factors may drive the widespread usage of partially-fullcontainers at the pharmacy. One factor is cost. It may cost less for apharmacy to purchase a large quantity of a pharmaceutical product in abulk container. Another factor is the generous return policies of mostmanufacturers. A pharmacy may receive a full or partial refund for apharmaceutical product, provided the return is made a sufficient amountof time before the expiration date. Thus, there is a clear incentive forthe pharmacy to stock partially-full containers because any unusedpharmaceutical product may be returned to the manufacturer. As thefrequency of usage of pharmaceutical products at the pharmacy changes,these partially-full containers should also be made efficiently andeasily accessible to pharmacy personnel at the workstation.

A further need of a pharmacy is the tracking of pharmaceutical productexpiration dates so that active pharmaceutical products are provided tothe patient and expiring product can be returned to the manufacturer fora refund.

Yet another problem facing a pharmacy is the need to provide theftdeterrence. Pharmaceutical products are valuable, and there is a riskthat pharmaceutical product containers, or even individual tablets, maybe stolen from the pharmacy. Obviously, discouragement of theft isdesirable.

There is a need for a pharmacy workflow management system and methodwhich would address some or all of the foregoing pharmacy needs, whichwould adapt to changes in the frequency of usage of pharmaceuticalproducts, which would make the most frequently used pharmaceuticalproducts most efficiently and easily accessible to the workstation atwhich the pharmaceutical products are used by pharmacy personnel tofulfill patient prescription orders and which would generally enable thepharmacy to provide a high level of patient care.

SUMMARY

Exemplary methods and systems for adaptive storage of pharmaceuticalproduct containers are described. The methods and system provide forimproved pharmacy management by making more frequently usedpharmaceutical products more easily accessible to pharmacy personnelworking at a pharmacy workstation. The methods and system provideadaptive storage of pharmaceutical products at plural storage locationshaving rankings based on relative ease-of-accessibility to the pharmacyworkstation. As pharmaceutical product usage by the pharmacy changes,the process adapts so that more frequently used pharmaceutical productsbecome stored at the more easily accessible storage locations whilepharmaceutical products which are used less frequently become stored atthe relatively less accessible storage locations.

In an aspect, the method performed by the system comprises initialplacing of plural pharmaceutical product containers into storagelocations, each having an ease-of-accessibility ranking. An excess ofstorage locations is provided to permit adaptive placement of containersinto the storage locations. The excess of storage locations provides atype of cache enabling the adaptive movement of the pharmaceuticalproduct containers in inventory. A database record of the storagelocation of each container is created when each container is placed intostorage.

When a prescription is to be fulfilled, the storage location of apharmaceutical product required for the prescription is automaticallyvisually indicated to a user. The user can then easily pick thecontainer from the indicated storage location. The pharmaceuticalproduct retrieved from the indicated storage location is used to fulfillthe prescription and the database is updated, preferably automatically,to indicate use of the product. If there is pharmaceutical productremaining in the container after fulfillment of the prescription, thenpreferably the container is placed in a restocking bin to await returnto storage, although the partially-full container could also beimmediately placed back into storage if desired.

When an unopened or partially-full pharmaceutical product container ofthe pharmaceutical product used to fulfill the prescription is nextplaced into storage, a determination of a usage frequency ranking forthe pharmaceutical product is made and a determination is made of aninitial or updated storage location for the container based on the usagefrequency ranking. It is preferred that the determination of the usagefrequency ranking of the pharmaceutical product is made with amoving-window time period. The determined storage location has anease-of-accessibility ranking commensurate with the usage frequencyranking of the product.

When the storage location is determined, it is further preferred thatthe determination is made so that the excess storage locations aredistributed throughout the set of storage locations. This is desirableto ensure even distribution of the cache of available storage locationsthroughout the pharmacy. It is also preferred that distributing theexcess storage locations further includes maintaining at least a minimumnumber of empty storage locations in each of a group of storagelocations.

The storage location is automatically visually indicated and thepharmaceutical product container is placed at the indicated updatedlocation. Preferably, the storage location ease-of-accessibilityrankings are based on the relative time required to access each storagelocation. Exemplary metrics used to determine the time required toaccess each storage location can include the relative distance of thestorage locations from the workstation, relative distance of the storagelocations from a drawer front and/or the relative distance of thestorage locations from a middle, or mid-point, of a drawer stack. Humanfactors, such as the necessity to reach and bend to access a storagelocation, are representative of other metrics that can be used to rank astorage location.

In certain preferred embodiments, the storage locations are grouped intosubsets based on storage location size and/or type and the storagelocation ease-of-accessibility rankings are determined within eachsubset. This embodiment accommodates containers having different sizes,such as small, medium, or large, and accommodates various types ofstorage such as drawer-type storage, refrigerated storage andcontrolled-access storage.

In order to create a database record of the storage location of eachpharmaceutical product container, it is preferred that a code on thecontainer is associated with a code of the indicated storage location.It is highly preferred that this associating includes reading a barcodeon the container, reading a barcode of the storage location andassociating information from the barcodes.

In order to indicate the storage location into which a pharmaceuticalproduct container should be placed to or picked from, it is preferredthat the automatically visually indicating of the method performed bythe system include energizing a visual indicator to indicate the storagelocation. The automatically visually indicating may further includeenergizing at least one lamp indicating the storage location. The lampmay output a color selected from a plurality of colors and theautomatically visually indicating may further include energizing the atleast one lamp to emit a color associated with a user of a group ofconcurrent users to direct the user to the storage location.

The methods and system for implementing the methods may includemanagement according to modes. In one mode, the pharmaceutical productrankings are continuously updated so that the storage locations selectedfor the pharmaceutical products are continuously optimized.

In another mode, the pharmaceutical product rankings are continuouslyupdated but are subject to a time constraint so that the containers aremoved only on a periodic basis. This mode is useful to slow the rate atwhich the storage locations are changed.

In yet another mode, there is provision for anticipated usage frequencyof a seasonal product. This mode is particularly useful to ensure thatseasonal products are ranked and stored at storage locationscommensurate with the in-season and, alternatively, out-of-season usageof the seasonal products.

Other modes involving user-determination of storage locations may beemployed. The modes may be used separately or in combination to achieveimproved management of pharmaceutical products by the pharmacy.

In another aspect of the method and the system, lot number and/orexpiration date tracking is preferably provided. In this embodiment,creating the database record of the storage location of each containerfurther includes creating a database record of the lot number andexpiration date of the pharmaceutical product in the container. If thestorage locations hold plural containers of the same product, the methodmay include automatically visually indicating the storage location ofthe container having an earlier expiration date. Notification may beprovided of impending pharmaceutical product expiration. If lot numbersare tracked, identification of the storage location of pharmaceuticalproduct containers of the relevant lot can be provided so that thepharmacy can take appropriate action, such as removing the containersfrom inventory in the event of a recall.

Theft deterrence may be provided in other aspects of the methods and thesystem for implementation of the methods. According to this aspect ofthe methods and system, containers may be secured against theft byplacing the containers at a different storage location after each use.The containers are in effect “hidden” among the many storage locationsof the system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary methods and systems for adaptive storage of pharmaceuticalproduct containers at a pharmacy may be understood by reference to thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which like reference numerals identify like elementsthroughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily toscale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles ofthe invention. In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary pharmacy, including aworkstation and storage modules;

FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C are exemplary pharmaceutical product containers;

FIG. 3A is a top perspective view of a drawer-type storage moduleincluding plural storage locations;

FIG. 3B is a detail view taken along detail section 3B-3B of FIG. 3Ashowing plural storage locations of a first size;

FIG. 3C is a detail view taken along detail section 3C-3C of FIG. 3Ashowing plural storage locations of a second size;

FIG. 4A is a top perspective view of a further drawer-type storagemodule including plural storage locations;

FIG. 4B is a detail view taken along detail section 4B-4B of FIG. 4Ashowing plural storage locations of the first size;

FIG. 4C is a detail view taken along detail section 4C-4C of FIG. 4Ashowing plural storage locations of a second size;

FIG. 5A is a front elevation view of a drawer-type storage moduleincluding plural storage locations;

FIG. 5B is an enlarged view of a drawer pulled out from the storagemodule of FIG. 5A including plural storage locations of the first sizeand a third size;

FIG. 6 is a detail view taken along detail section 6-6 of FIG. 5Ashowing a visual indicator;

FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C show a single visual indicator in three differentstates, each state including output of a different color light;

FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration of an adaptive pharmaceutical productstorage system; and

FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C and 9D are flow diagrams showing an exemplary method ofadaptive pharmaceutical product storage management. FIGS. 9A and 9Billustrate container placement, and FIGS. 9C-9D illustrate containerpicking and prescription fulfillment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary methods and systems 11 for adaptive storage of pharmaceuticalproduct containers, such as containers 13, 15, 17, 18, 19 at a pharmacywill first be described with respect to FIGS. 1-8. As used herein,“adaptive” means or refers to having the capability of adjusting tochanges in conditions. System 11 adapts to actual and anticipatedchanges in pharmaceutical product usage frequency.

Referring first to FIGS. 1-8, a system 11 for adaptive storage ofpharmaceutical products (e.g., containers 13-19) used to fulfill patientprescription orders by a pharmacy includes a workstation 21 and storagemodules 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35 with plural storage locations,examples of which 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59 areillustrated in FIGS. 3A-3C, 4A-4C, and 5B. The pharmacy inventory ofpharmaceutical product containers (e.g., containers 13-19) is storedamong the storage locations (e.g., locations 37-59).

In the example, the storage locations (e.g., locations 37-59) arefixed-position storage locations. A fixed-position storage locationmeans or refers to a storage location with a unique address and positionwithin system 11 and which is not transported about the pharmacy withthe pharmaceutical product container (e.g., container 13, 15, 17, 18,19). A container (e.g., one of containers 13-19) of the appropriate sizemay be stored at each such storage location (e.g., locations 37-59).

The storage locations (e.g., locations 37-59) are organized in ahierarchy with each storage location having a ranking first-to-lastbased on the relative ease of access of each storage location toworkstation 21. “Ease of access” means or refers to an assessment of theease and/or efficiency with which a storage location is reached oraccessed by pharmacy personnel. The assessment can be made based avariety of factors described herein. Such a ranking of the storagelocations (e.g., locations 37-59) enables system 11 to direct storage ofthe containers (e.g., containers 13-19) for the most frequently-usedpharmaceutical products to the storage locations (e.g., locations 37-59)most easily accessible to the workstation 21. Rules for distributing ofthe containers (e.g., containers 13-19) among the storage locations(e.g., locations 37-59) are described below.

Workstation 21 represents a sort of pharmacy “hub” or pharmacy “center”around which modules 23-35 and the ranked storage locations (e.g.,locations 37-59) are positioned and arranged. It is an important objectof system 11 that full and partially-full pharmaceutical productcontainers (e.g., containers 13-19) for the most-frequently usedpharmaceutical products are stored among the ranked storage locations(e.g., locations 37-59) most easily and efficiently accessible to theworkstation 21. Such positioning makes it possible to locate anunsealed, partially-full pharmaceutical product container (e.g.,container 13-19) for a popular pharmaceutical product at a storagelocation which is easily accessible to pharmacy personnel at theworkstation 21. Such an arrangement makes it easier and more efficientfor pharmacy personnel working at workstation 21 to place pharmaceuticalproduct containers (e.g., containers 13-19) into the storage locations(e.g., locations 37-59) and to pick pharmaceutical product containers(e.g., containers 13-19) from such storage locations to prepare eachpatient's prescription order at workstation 21 or to place containersback into the storage locations.

As will be described, system 11 adapts to real-time and anticipatedchanges in pharmaceutical product usage frequency and directs placementof full and partially-full pharmaceutical product containers (e.g.,containers 13-19) to a storage location (e.g., locations 37-59) based onusage frequency each time the pharmaceutical product container (e.g.,containers 13-19) is placed into storage. As used herein, “usagefrequency” means or refers to the number of times a particular productis accessed to fulfill prescriptions within a given period of time.

Workstation 21 is provided for the use of pharmacy personnel to performprescription order fulfillment and other tasks. A “user” of workstation21 may be any of the pharmacy personnel including a registeredpharmacist, a pharmacy technician, a restocking clerk, or any otherauthorized user. In the example, workstation 21 may also used to performa variety of tasks including intake of new pharmaceutical productcontainers (e.g., containers 13-19) into inventory and general inventorymanagement, such as removal from inventory of pharmaceutical productcontainers with expired pharmaceutical products.

In the example, workstation 21 includes a worksurface 61 at whichpatient prescription orders may be prepared by a user. Referring to FIG.8, workstation 21 is provided with a controller 63. Also provided are avideo display 65, a keyboard 67, a mouse 69 and a code reader in theform of a barcode reader 71 each operatively connected to controller 63.Display 65 may be a touch-screen type display 65 with a QWERTY-typekeypad emulation display image which permits a user to input informationto controller 63 by touching display 65 proximate a displayed controlbutton or information field or by keying in information with the keypad.Barcode reader 71 is an off-the-shelf barcode scanner provided to outputbarcode information to controller 63 each time a container (e.g.,containers 13-19) is picked or placed, enabling accurate tracking ofeach container (e.g., containers 13-19) in inventory as describedherein.

Controller 63 may, for example, consist of an off-the-shelf personalcomputer (PC) or plural operably-connected PCs. For example, controller63 may consist of one or more central processing unit (CPU). In thisexample, a PC-type CPU would include non-volatile memory holding adatabase 73 having a record of the unique address of each storagelocation (e.g., locations 37-59) and the ease-of-accessibility rankingof each storage location. Database 73 may include the number of storagelocations (e.g., locations 37-59) within system 11 and the size (e.g.,small, medium, or large) and type of each storage location. For example,storage location types may include general storage locations,refrigerated storage locations or controlled-access storage locations. APC-type CPU used to instantiate controller 63 could provide a userinterface with display 65, keyboard 67, mouse 69 and barcode reader 71enabling user access to controller 63.

Storage locations may be grouped into subsets by storage location sizeand/or type. Therefore, there may be a group of storage locationsdesignated for holding large-size containers, for holding medium-sizecontainers, or for holding small-size containers. Also for example,there may be a group of storage locations designated for holdingperishable products requiring refrigeration and a group of storagelocations designated for narcotic products requiring controlled access.

Database 73 is capable of associating any pharmaceutical productcontainer (e.g., containers 13-19) with any storage location (e.g.,locations 37-59). This includes creating a record of the storagelocation into which a container (e.g., containers 13-19) is placed andsubsequently updating that record with the updated storage location whenthe container (e.g., containers 13-19) is placed back into storage.

Controller 63 may also directly or indirectly control operation of anOptical Positioning System (OPS) 75 which is a pick-to-light/place-tolight visual indicator system 75 provided to indicate to a user thestorage location (e.g., location 37-59) at which each pharmaceuticalproduct container (e.g., containers 13-19) should be placed or picked.In the example, OPS 75 consists of controller 63, visual indicatorcontroller 77 and a visual indicator 79 adjacent one or more storagelocations (e.g., locations 37-59) as described herein. Any number ofvisual indicators 79 may be used depending on the quantity andarrangement of the storage locations (e.g., location 37-59) implementedby the pharmacy.

As illustrated schematically in FIG. 8, controller 63 is operativelyconnected to visual indicator controller 77 through electronic means,such as a serial cable. Visual indicator controller 77 is operativelyconnected to each visual indicator 79 of OPS 75 via cables or any othersuitable means. After receiving a signal from controller 63, visualindicator controller 77 is operative to activate the relevant visualindicator 79 as described herein. OPS system 75 and its use is describedin more detail below. Visual indicator controller 77 may be a devicesuch as a model TW2208 Ethernet Small Controller available fromLightning Pick Technologies of Germantown, Wis.

The physical structure of modules 23-27 comprising workstation 21 willnow be described in connection with FIGS. 1 and 3A-3C. Modules 23-27 areidentical to modules 29-31 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4A-4C. Forconvenience and brevity, the physical structure of module 27 ofworkstation 21 is described, it being understood that the description ofmodule 27 is applicable to modules 25-31.

Module 27 includes a base 80, vertical columns 81, 83, 85, 87 and ashelving unit 89 supported on rear columns 85, 87. Shelving unit 89includes plural shelves for holding articles and things used by thepharmacy. One shelf of shelving unit 89 is designated by referencenumber 91. Shelving unit 89 shelves (e.g., shelf 91) could providefixed-position storage locations for containers such as containers13-19, if desired. For example, shelf 91 may be a “speed shelf” in whichlike pharmaceutical product containers are stored in columns on a slopedshelf and are moved to the shelf front by gravity after removal of thefront container in the column of like containers.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 4A, base 80 includes plural drawers, two ofwhich are identified by reference numbers 99, 101. Additional drawers onother modules 23, 25, 29, 31 are designated by reference numbers 93, 95,97, 98 and 100. Each drawer 93-101 is mounted on a slide (not shown)which enables each drawer to be moved into the respective base (e.g.,base 80) and to be moved in and out between a position in which thedrawer (e.g., drawer 101) is retracted into its base (e.g., base 80) andalternatively extended out of the respective base (e.g., base 80) asillustrated in FIGS. 3A and 4A to permit user-access to thefixed-position storage locations (e.g., locations 37-59) located thereinfor placement or picking of pharmaceutical product containers (e.g.,containers 13-19).

Worksurface 61 of workstation 21 is supported on base 80 and the likebases of modules 25-27. Worksurface 103 is supported on the respectivebases of modules 29-31. Positioning modules 23-27 and 29-31 side-by-sideas shown in FIGS. 1, 3A and 4A permits each worksurface 61, 103 toextend across all adjacent modules 23-27 and 29-31, providing convenientplaces for a user to perform tasks such as counting and verifying eachpharmaceutical product required to fulfill patient prescriptions.

Referring next to FIGS. 1, 5A and 5B, the physical structure ofexemplary modules 33 and 35 will next be described. Modules 33 and 35are identical in the example. For convenience and brevity, the structureof module 35 is described, it being understood that the description ofmodule 35 is applicable to module 33.

Module 35 includes a base 105, side walls 107, 109, a top wall 111 andan unshown rear wall forming a cabinet-type enclosure. Module 35includes plural drawers, two of which are indicated by reference numbers113 and 115. Additional drawers of module 35 are designated by referencenumbers 117, 119, 121, 123 and 125. Each drawer (e.g., drawers 113-125)is mounted on a slide (not shown) which enables each drawer to be movedin and out between a position in which the drawer (e.g., drawer 113-125)is retracted into module 35 and, alternatively, extended out of themodule 35 as illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B to permit user-access to thefixed-position storage locations (e.g., locations 53-59) therein forplacement or picking of pharmaceutical product containers (e.g.,containers 13-19).

In the example, each fixed-position storage location (e.g., locations37-59) in each drawer (e.g., drawers 93-101 and 113-125) is defined byside walls 127, 129, 131, 133 and bottom wall 135. The result in theexample is a grid-like arrangement of fixed-position storage locations(e.g., locations 37-59) arranged in rows 137 and columns 139.

In the example, walls 127-133 of each storage location (e.g., locations37-59) define three different sizes of storage locations (e.g.,locations 37-59) which are referred to herein for simplicity as either“small,” “medium,” or “large” storage locations. Each size may betreated as a separate storage location type and subset. In the example,small-size storage locations are indicated by reference numbers 37, 39,49, 51, 57 and 59, medium-size storage locations are indicated byreference numbers 53, 55, and large-size storage locations are indicatedby reference numbers 41, 43, 45, and 47. In the example, the large-sizestorage locations 41-47 have a volumetric space which is about fourtimes greater than the volumetric space of small-size storage locations37, 39, 49, 51, 57, 59. While three sizes are shown, it should beunderstood that any number of different size locations may be provided.

In the example, each storage location (e.g., locations 37-59) has aunique address within system 11. In the example, the address is based onits: (1) module identifier (herein the reference numbers 23-35 are usedas the identifier), (2) drawer identifier (herein based on the number ofdrawers in a module), (3) row number (herein based on the number of rowsin a drawer), and (4) column number (herein based on the number ofcolumns in a drawer). As indicated in the Legend of FIG. 3A, the uniqueaddress for storage location 41 is 27, 6, 1, 5 meaning module 27, drawer6 (6th from the top), row 1, column 5. The Legend of FIG. 4A states thatthe unique address of storage location 51 is 31, 2, 2, 10 meaning module31, drawer 2 (2nd from the top), row 2, column 10. Each other storagelocation (e.g., locations 37-59) has a unique address determined in thesame manner. Any system of unique storage location identification can beimplemented.

Referring to FIGS. 3B, 3C, 4B, 4C and 5B, the unique address of eachstorage location (e.g., locations 37-59) is embedded in amachine-readable code, preferably a barcode 141, affixed to each storagelocation (e.g., locations 37-59) bottom wall 135. The storage locationbarcode 141 is scanned with barcode scanner 71 during each occurrence ofplacing a container (e.g., container 13-19) into the storage location(e.g., locations 37-59) for purposes of updating database 73 toaccurately indicate the storage location of each pharmaceutical productcontainer (e.g., containers 13-19) in inventory as described in moredetail below.

Each storage location (e.g., locations 37-59) is ranked within system 11based on its ease-of-accessibility to workstation 21 relative to eachother storage location in a set or subset of a group of like storagelocations (e.g., large-size storage locations or refrigerated storagelocations). Ease-of-accessibility is related most directly to the amountof time that is required to access the storage location from workstation21. Other considerations, such human factors (e.g., bending and reachingto access a storage location), may also be utilized to determine theranking although the impact of these other factors may be included inthe time-to-access metric.

Accordingly, ease-of-accessibility metrics can be based on the lineardistance (horizontal or vertical) of the storage location (e.g.,locations 37-59) from the workstation 21. Storage locations closer tothe workstation require less time to access and have a correspondinglymore favorable ranking. According to a linear distance ranking metric,storage locations in modules 23-27 would have more favorable rankingsthan storage locations in modules 29-35 because storage locations inmodules 23-27 are located at workstation 21 whereas storage locations inmodules 29-35 are spaced from workstation 21.

By way of further example, ease-of-accessibility can be based onrelative drawer location (e.g., drawers 93-101, 113-125). According tothis ranking metric, a drawer located toward the cabinet middle ormid-point (e.g., drawer 117, 119, 121 or 123) which is easily opened bya user may be deemed more easily accessible than either a drawer towardthe cabinet top wall 111 (e.g., drawer 113 or 115) which may require useof a step ladder to access. Such a middle drawer may be more easilyaccessible from a human factors standpoint because the user does nothave to bend down as would be the case when accessing a drawer towardthe cabinet base 105 (e.g., drawer 125). Similarly, storage locations inan upper drawer (e.g, drawer 97) of module 25 could have a morefavorable ranking than storage locations in a lower drawer (e.g., drawer101) of module 27 because of the relatively greater ease with whichstorage locations in drawer 97 could be accessed by a user standing orseated at workstation 21.

By way of yet another example, ease-of-accessibility can be based on rowand column locations within a single drawer (e.g., drawer 100).According to this ranking metric, storage locations in rows 137 closerto the drawer front can be accessed more rapidly than storage locationsin rows 137 closer to the drawer rear. From a human factors standpoint,a row in the rear of the drawer may be particularly inconvenient becausethe user must reach to the rear of the drawer. This could make rear rowsof a bottom drawer (e.g., drawer 125) particularly inaccessibleresulting in a low ranking. Combinations of any and all ranking metricmethodologies may be implemented.

The entire set or subset of storage locations (e.g., locations 37-59)available at the pharmacy for storage of pharmaceutical productcontainers (e.g., containers 13-19) is stored in database 73 maintainedin non-volatile memory of controller 63. This stored informationincludes the address and ranking of each storage location (e.g.,locations 37-59). Separate rankings may stored in database 73 forlocations within a subset of storage locations of a particular type orsize.

Therefore, if system 11 includes a total set of 10,000 storage locations(e.g., locations 37-59), each storage location is ranked from 1 to10,000 based on ease-of-accessibility to workstation 21, and therankings are associated with the unique addresses and barcodes 141 forthe locations. If system 11 were to include a subset of 8,000 storagelocations of one size (e.g., small size) and further subsets of 1,000storage locations of a second size (e.g., large size) and 1,000 storagelocations of a third size (e.g., medium size), then each storagelocation within such subsets may be ranked from 1 to 8,000 or 1 to1,000, respectively. Aspects of the storage location ranking may besomewhat subjective because, for example, abutting storage locations inthe same drawer are each likely to be as easily accessible to theworkstation 21 as the other.

It may be desirable to provide yet additional organizationalhierarchical levels, for example, grouping storage locations (e.g.,locations 37-59) into subsets based on “zones” for storage ofpharmaceutical products with similar frequency of usage or some othercharacteristic. Each zone subset could be designated based onpharmacy-selected metrics. For example, each zone could be designatedbased on the linear distance (e.g., close or far) of the zone fromworkstation 21. Storage locations (e.g., locations 37-59) within eachzone subset could be ranked first-to-last based on ease-of-accessibilityto workstation 21 within the zone subset. For example, modules 23-27could represent an A-mover zone because such modules abut to compriseworkstation 21. Modules 29-31 could represent a B-mover zone becausemodules 29-31 are spaced from workstation 21 as illustrated in FIG. 1.Modules 33-35 could represent a C-mover zone.

An advantage of the exemplary system 11 is that it is not necessary tosegregate like pharmaceutical product containers (e.g., containers13-19) and to store like containers together, as on a shelf. Subject tothe need to have a greater number of storage locations than containersin order for the adaptive behavior of system 11 to occur, system 11provides for “dense” storage which efficiently utilizes available andvaluable pharmacy storage space. Therefore, if there are morepharmaceutical product containers of one type than another in stock atany particular time, storage space reserved for the less abundantcontainer is not wasted as would be the case with segregated storage. Asdescribed below, the excess number of storage locations provides a cacheor buffer for the adaptive inventory movement to occur as describedherein.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 3A, 4A, 5A, 6, 7A-7C and 8, OPS system 75assists the user in rapidly and accurately identifying the storagelocation (e.g., locations 37-59) into which each pharmaceutical productcontainer (e.g., container 13-19) is to be placed, picked from orreturned to after fulfillment of a patient prescription. OPS system 75controlled by controller 63 and visual indicator controller 77 consistsof visual indicator 79 adjacent each drawer (e.g., drawers 93-101,113-125). Each visual indicator 79 is preferably identical in structureand operation and is connected to visual indicator controller 77 via acable or other suitable connection as previously described. Also aspreviously described, OPS system 75 includes a sufficient number ofvisual indicators 79 to indicate the location of each storage location(e.g., locations 37-59).

Referring to FIGS. 7A-7C, each visual indicator 79 includes a housing143, a lamp 145 and a pair of digital numeric displays 147, 149.Energizing of lamp 145 by controller 77 indicates the drawer (e.g.,drawers 93-101, 113-125) in which the storage location (e.g., locations37-59) is located. Display 147 is activated by controller 77 to indicatethe row 137 and display 149 is activated by controller 77 to indicatethe column 139 of the storage location (e.g., locations 37-59). In theexamples of FIGS. 7A-7C, the user is being prompted to pick or placefrom the storage location (e.g., locations 37-59) at row 4, column 1 ofthe indicated drawer (e.g., drawers 93-101, 113-125).

Optionally, lamp 145 may be configured to facilitate simultaneous use ofsystem 11 by plural users. In such embodiments, lamp 145 may be amulti-colored light emitting diode (LED). FIGS. 7A-7C alternatively showlamp 145 emitting red, yellow or blue colors. One color is associatedwith each currently-active user. A single user is directed to thestorage location (e.g., locations 37-59) indicated by the color of thelamp 145 associated with the user, thereby avoiding any confusion aboutwhich user should access a particular storage location (e.g., locations37-59).

Non-limiting, exemplary pharmaceutical product containers which may bestored within the storage locations (e.g., locations 37-59) are nowdescribed in connection with FIGS. 2A-2C and FIGS. 3B, 3C, 4B, 4C and5B. Container types other than shown in the figures may be stored inpharmacy inventories. Examples are clamshells, bags and blisterpackages. Containers 13, 15, 18 and 19 are lightweight plasticpharmaceutical-product-containing bottles, and container 17 is a box.Each container identified by reference number 13 may be characterized asa “large” bulk-storage-type container which may have volume of about1,000 cm³ and may hold 500 tablets when originally loaded. Containersidentified by reference numbers 15, 17 and 19 may be characterized as a“small” bulk-storage-type containers while container 18 is a “medium”container. Container 15 may have a volume of about 250 cm³ and may hold100 tablets. Box 17 contains antibiotic tablets but could hold otherpharmaceutical products such as an inhaler or syringe. Container 13 isapproximately four times larger than container 15 on a volumetric basis.Container 18 has a size between that of containers 13 and 15.

Containers 13, 15, 17, 18, 19 are provided by the manufacturer with asafety seal (not shown) over a container opening, and a replaceableclosure 153, 155 is secured over the sealed opening. Closure 153, 155may be a threaded cap which meshes with threads on the neck of eachcontainer 13, 15. Closure 153, 155 is removed from the respectivecontainer 13, 15 by a user to pour tablets from the container 13, 15 andis replaced by the user to place a partially-full container back intostorage. Partially-full containers are commonplace in pharmacyinventories because pharmaceutical products are routinely supplied inbulk-type containers which include a large number of tablets (e.g., suchas 500 count container 13) and are intended to be used multiple times,potentially over a long time period before expiration of thepharmaceutical product in the container.

Referring further to FIGS. 2A-2C, each pharmaceutical product container13-19 is provided with a unique machine-readable code, preferably in theform of a barcode 157. The barcode 141 of a storage location (e.g.,location 37-59) and the container barcode 157 are each scanned each timethe container (e.g.,13-19) is placed into a storage location (e.g.,locations 37-59). Container barcode 157 is also scanned during eachoccurrence of picking the container (e.g., container 13-19) from itsstorage location (e.g., locations 37-59).

The unique barcode 157 of the container (e.g., 13-19) is associated indatabase 73 with the unique address of the storage location (e.g.,locations 37-59) into which the container is placed. When each container(e.g., containers 13-19) is picked, scanning of barcode 157 updatesdatabase 73 to indicate that the container (e.g, container 13-19) hasbeen removed from storage for purposes of fulfillment of a prescription.The scanning also indicates that the storage location is available toreceive another container as part of the adaptive behavior of system 11.Controller 63, therefore, maintains an accurate real-time record of thelocation of each container (e.g., container 13-19) in inventory and thelocation of each available storage location in the cache of availablestorage locations.

Container barcode 157 is typically a Universal Product Code (UPC)barcode but may be of any barcode type. Barcode 157 provides informationuniquely identifying the pharmaceutical product in container 13-19.Typically, the 10-digit National Drug Code (NDC) for the prescriptionpharmaceutical product is embedded in a UPC-type barcode 157 andprovides unique identification for the pharmaceutical product andcontainer 13-17. Human-readable information 159 adjacent each barcode157 on containers 13-17 shows the 10-digit NDC embedded in barcode 157for the pharmaceutical product.

Other types of machine-readable codes can be provided on, or associatedwith, containers 13-19. For example, each container 13-19 could includea radio frequency identification (RFID) tag in place of or incombination with a respective barcode 157.

Other information provided on each container 13-19 typically includesmanufacturer name, pharmaceutical product type, strength and quantity161, a lot number 163 and an expiration date 165. Lot number 163identifies the production batch and date of manufacture, and theexpiration date 165 is the date by which the pharmaceutical productshould no longer be used. System 11 may be utilized to track expirationdates to permit the pharmacy to return expiring pharmaceutical productsto the manufacturer for a refund as described herein.

A strength of system 11 is that the structure, arrangement and number ofmodules 23-35, drawers (e.g., drawers 93-101, 113-125), rows 137,columns 139 and storage locations (e.g., locations 37-59) of system 11can be configured, arranged, scaled and changed over time to meet theunique and evolving needs of each different pharmacy. These needs caninclude increased or decreased prescription-order fulfillment demand atthe pharmacy, increased or decreased demand for pharmaceutical productcontainer storage and budgetary considerations of the pharmacy.

Additional workstations could be provided. For example, a workstationwith its own client PC, display, keyboard, mouse and barcode scannercould be provided at work surface 103 of modules 29-31. Such aworkstation could simply provide extra working space for a pharmacist,pharmacy technician or other authorized user, or there could be rankedstorage locations positioned with respect to the additional workstation.Storage devices other than modules 23-35 may be utilized. For example,rotatable carousels could be used in place of base-type enclosures 80with pull-out drawers (e.g., drawers 93-101). Shelving units 89 could byutilized to provide fixed-position storage locations for system 11. Byway of further example, refrigerated storage devices can be provided forperishable pharmaceutical products, and locked, controlled-accessstorage devices can be provided for controlled substances such asnarcotics.

Pharmaceutical Product Container Adaptive Storage

Management of an inventory of pharmaceutical product containers (e.g.,containers 13, 15, 17, 18, 19) by system 11 may be based on one or moreof several operational modes. The exemplary modes are referred to hereinas a Continually Optimized Location (COL) mode, Periodic OptimizedLocation (POL) mode, a Seasonally Optimized Location (SOL) mode, anAlphabetically Organized Location (AOL) mode, a User Organized Location(UOL) mode, and a Special Rules (SR) mode. One mode of operation may beused for management of containers (e.g., containers 13-19) for certainpharmaceutical products while a different mode of operation may be usedfor management of containers (e.g., containers 13-19) for otherpharmaceutical products.

The COL, POL and SOL modes are based on, and adapt to, actual and/oranticipated frequency of use of the pharmaceutical products by thepharmacy. The AOL and UOL modes permit pharmacy user determination ofstorage locations (e.g., locations 37-59). The SR mode provides anadditional level of user control for special cases. Each mode enablessystem 11 to accurately track the quantity, type, lot number andexpiration date of each pharmaceutical product in inventory. The COL,POL and SOL modes direct storage and track movement of thepharmaceutical product containers (e.g., containers 13-19) among thestorage locations (e.g., locations 37-59) from induction into system 11until the container (e.g., containers 13-19) is removed from system 11.The objective of these modes is to direct placement of eachpharmaceutical product container (e.g., containers 13-19) to a storagelocation having an ease-of-accessibility ranking commensurate with theusage frequency ranking of the pharmaceutical product, making thosecontainers for the pharmaceutical products used most frequently mosteasily accessible to workstation 21.

In the COL mode, the storage location (e.g., locations 37-59) of apharmaceutical product container (e.g. containers 13-19) within system11 is determined by frequency of use. If containers and storagelocations are grouped into subsets according or type, the usagefrequency determination is based rankings within each subset. Thestorage location of each pharmaceutical product container may changeafter each prescription fulfillment transaction involving the selectedcontainer (e.g., container 13-19).

In the POL mode, system 11 operates as in the COL mode but the rate ofchange of storage locations is slowed down as determined by the user.The purpose of the POL mode is to retain products in locations familiarto the user while at the same time adapting to changes in usagefrequency subject to a user-determined time constraint described below.

In the SOL mode, the storage location of a pharmaceutical productcontainer (e.g. containers 13-19) within system 11 is determined byfrequency of use and anticipated seasonal variation of demand. The SOLand POL modes are the same except that usage frequencies are determineddependent on whether a product is identified by pharmacy as being in orout of season.

The AOL and UOL modes permit the pharmacy to determine the storagelocation of each pharmaceutical product. If desired, these modes may beused in combination with the COL, POL and SOL modes for certain of thepharmaceutical products stored at the pharmacy.

In the AOL mode, the storage location of a pharmaceutical productcontainer (e.g. containers 13-19) within system 11 is determined bypharmaceutical product name. This mode of operation permits pharmacy tolocate certain products alphabetically for convenience.

In the UOL mode, the storage location of a pharmaceutical productcontainer (e.g. containers 13-19) within system 11 is determined bypharmacy preferences. The UOL mode of operation lets the pharmacy selectthe storage location for a specific pharmaceutical products withoutconstraint. In the UOL mode, system 11 creates a record of the storagelocation (e.g., locations 37-59) at which each pharmaceutical productcontainer (e.g. container 13-19) is stored, and system 11 isconfigurable so that the pharmacy may assign each pharmaceutical productcontainer to a specific storage location.

In the Special Rules (SR) mode, the user determines any special rulesthat may apply to storage of certain pharmaceutical product containers.The SR mode may be used in combination with other modes. For example,the SR mode permits particular pharmaceutical products to be designatedfor use only by certain patients. A particular product could bedesignated as accessible only for patients participating in agovernment-sponsored health-care program. The location of the productcould change based on usage frequency but the product itself may only beaccessible to a limited group of patients.

A method of adaptive management of pharmaceutical products by a pharmacywill now be described with respect to the flow diagrams of FIGS. 9A-9D.The method includes placement of pharmaceutical product containers (e.g.containers 13-19) into storage locations (e.g., locations 37-59) ofsystem 11 and further includes picking of containers and fulfillment ofprescription orders. The method which will be described isrepresentative of the adaptive behavior of the COL mode. Variations ofthe COL mode provided by the POL and SOL modes are also described as arethe AOL, UOL and SR modes.

FIGS. 9A and 9B, illustrate a process implemented by system 11 forplacement of pharmaceutical product containers (e.g., containers 13-19)into the storage locations (e.g., locations 37-59) of system 11. Theprocess illustrated in FIGS. 9A and 9B may be used for the initialplacement of each pharmaceutical product container (e.g., containers13-19) into a storage location (e.g., locations 37-59) when system 11 isfirst placed into operation. If COL, POL, SOL or SR modes areimplemented for the initial placement of pharmaceutical productcontainers into storage when system 11 is first placed into operation,then historical usage frequency data from prescriptions filled by thepharmacy would be used for the ranking of each pharmaceutical product.The ranking is used so that pharmaceutical product containers (e.g.,containers 13-19) for the pharmaceutical products are assigned to rankedstorage locations having an ease-of-accessibility ranking commensuratewith the usage frequency ranking of the pharmaceutical product asdescribed in blocks 211 and 213. If UOL, AOL (or SR) modes areimplemented for the initial placement of pharmaceutical productcontainers into storage when system 11 is first placed into operation,then the initial storage locations are determined by the pharmacy basedon pharmacy preference or alphabetical organization as described inconnection with block 215.

While not preferred, it is also possible that the pharmacy could placethe pharmaceutical product containers (e.g., containers 13-19) randomlyinto storage locations (e.g, locations 37-59) when system 11 is firstplaced into operation because the process implemented by system 11 willcause the inventory of pharmaceutical product containers (e.g.,containers 13-19) to adapt over time so that the storage locationease-of-accessibility ranking for each pharmaceutical product containerwill be commensurate with the usage frequency ranking of thepharmaceutical product stored therein.

A database record of the storage location of each pharmaceutical productcontainer is made in database 73 every time a container is stored bysystem, including at the point when system 11 is first placed intooperation, as described in block 223. Based on the database record indatabase 73, the storage location (e.g., locations 37-59) of everypharmaceutical product container (e.g., containers 13-19) is identifiedby system 11 from the point at which system 11 is first placed intooperation and forward.

The process illustrated in FIGS. 9A and 9B continues to be used as new,unopened pharmaceutical product containers (e.g., containers 13-19) areinducted into the inventory of pharmaceutical product containers storedby means of system 11 and as partially-full pharmaceutical productcontainers are returned to storage after use for fulfillment ofprescriptions by the pharmacy.

Referring then to FIG. 9A, the process performed by system 11 forplacement of pharmaceutical product containers into storage locations isentered at Start 201. At block 203, the user has one or morepharmaceutical product containers (e.g., container 13-19) to place intosystem 11. The user may be, for example, a restocking clerk whoseresponsibilities include placing new containers and partially-fullcontainers into the pharmacy inventory. New, unopened pharmaceuticalproduct containers (e.g., containers 13-19) may, for instance, beunpacked by a user from a manufacturer's shipping container, whilepartially-full pharmaceutical product containers (e.g., containers13-19) may be from a restocking bin 167 in which the partially-fullcontainer was placed after use for prescription fulfillment by anotheruser such as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician. Use of a restockingbin 167 to collect plural partially-full containers (e.g., containers13-19) is a matter of convenience and efficiency only; partially-fullcontainers may also be returned to storage on an individual basiswithout use of a restocking bin 167.

At block 205, the user at workstation 21 sets system 11 to a “place”mode by inputting the appropriate command to controller 63 by means ofan input device such as touch-screen display 65, keyboard 67 or mouse69.

At block 207, the user scans barcode 157 on a pharmaceutical productcontainer (e.g., containers 13-19) with barcode scanner 71. The datastring from barcode scanner 71 is output to controller 63. Controller 63database 73 may use a relational database to match the data string tothe exact manufacturer, pharmaceutical product type, package type andpharmaceutical product quantity, thereby accurately identifying thepharmaceutical product container (e.g., container 13-19) and creating arecord in database 73. If required, the human-readable 159 NDC embeddedin bar code 157 could be manually entered into database 73 by a user toidentify the container (e.g., container 13-19) to database 73.

At decision point 209, system 11 determines the user-selected modedesignated for the pharmaceutical product in the pharmaceutical productcontainer (e.g., container 13-19). Database 73 is used to determine thata pharmaceutical product has been designated by the pharmacy as being inone of the six modes (COL, POL, SOL, AOL, UOL, SR). If the mode isdetermined to be either the COL, POL or SOL, the process proceeds toblock 211. If the mode is determined to be either the AOL or UOL mode,the process proceeds to block 215. SR mode can apply to the process atblocks 211-213 or block 215. The mode determination for eachpharmaceutical product is made as each pharmaceutical product is firstinducted into system 11 but may be modified at any point thereafter.

Referring next to blocks 211 and 213, before each new container (e.g.containers 13-19) or partially-full pharmaceutical product container(e.g. containers 13-19) is placed into storage, a storage location isdetermined for the container by system 11 based on the pharmacy's usagefrequency of the pharmaceutical product in the container. The storagelocation is an initial storage location at the time when system 11 isfirst placed into operation or when a new pharmaceutical product isfirst introduced into inventory and is an updated storage location forinduction of a new container of a pharmaceutical product already ininventory or for a partially-full container being returned to inventoryafter prescription fulfillment in block 251.

The storage location is assigned with the objective of aligning thepharmaceutical product's usage frequency ranking with the storagelocation's ease of accessibility ranking so that the most frequentlyused pharmaceutical products are assigned to the storage locations mosteasily accessible to workstation 21. For a new product not previously ininventory, an estimate of anticipated usage frequency would be performedto accomplish this assignment. A further objective of system 11 is toprovide an updated storage location with a ranking which is: (1) moreeasily accessible than previously-ranked storage locations for the samepharmaceutical product if the product's usage frequency ranking isincreasing, (2) about as easily accessible as previously-ranked storagelocations for the same pharmaceutical product if the product's usagefrequency ranking is relatively constant, or (3) less easily accessiblethan previously-ranked storage locations for the same pharmaceuticalproduct if the product's usage frequency ranking is decreasing.

The first step of this process occurs at block 211. At block 211, theusage frequency ranking of the pharmaceutical product being placed isupdated (or determined for new products) in the COL, POL and SOL modesaccording to the rules for each mode. The SR mode may also apply. In theCOL mode, usage frequency ranking is determined by rank-ordering eachpharmaceutical product in the COL category (within subsets if subsetsare being used), from highest to lowest usage frequency, based on thefrequency of usage within a moving time window. The frequency of usagedetermination is based on prescription fulfillment transactions thantotal tablets used (i.e., the number of prescriptions for eachpharmaceutical product). Preferably, the moving time window is a periodof one year. So, for example, the usage frequency for the pharmaceuticalproduct is determined, and the ranking based on usage frequency is thendetermined within the rank ordering which applies to the set or subset.Usage data of each pharmaceutical product is determined from thedatabase 73 of all pharmacy transactions within the moving-window timeperiod. A record of each pharmaceutical product usage is automaticallycreated at block 251 each time the pharmaceutical product is used tofulfill a patient prescription. Historical usage information from thepharmacy can be used during the first year of system 11 operation if aone year moving time window period is utilized. Estimated usagefrequency could be determined for new products not previously ininventory.

System 11 maintains a rank-ordering of usage frequencies and determinesthe usage frequency ranking within this rank-ordering each time apharmaceutical product is placed into inventory. Therefore, apharmaceutical product which has been used to fill 1,000 prescriptionsduring the moving-window time period has a usage frequency rankinghigher in the rank-ordering than all of the pharmaceutical productshaving a usage less than 1,000 times within the time period of the lastassessment of usage frequency. In other words, a pharmaceutical productwith a ranking of 1 is used more frequently by a pharmacy than apharmaceutical product with a ranking of 10.

For the POL mode, the determination of the usage-frequency ranking ofthe pharmaceutical product designated as POL only occurs if the timesince the last change of storage location exceeds a user-determined timeperiod, also referred to herein as a time constraint. Usage datacontinues to be collected, as in the COL mode. However, if thisuser-determined time period has not elapsed, the container is simplyassigned back to the storage location from which it was picked in block215. The result is to slow movement of the POL-designated pharmaceuticalproducts in inventory. POL mode may be useful for users who prefer tobecome familiar with the location of certain pharmaceutical products.

For the SOL mode, additional information is taken into account at block211 to determine the usage frequency ranking of theseasonally-designated pharmaceutical product. Initially, a determinationhas been made that the pharmaceutical product is a seasonal product andthe product has been so identified in database 73. If a pharmaceuticalproduct is seasonal, its usage-frequency ranking is annualized for thedesignated season so that the ranking of the seasonal pharmaceuticalproduct is adjusted commensurate with its historical seasonal usage.After the season, the ranking of the seasonal pharmaceutical product isadjusted commensurate with its historical off-season usage. Like the POLmode, the usage-frequency ranking of a seasonal product is determined ata user-determined time which is typically the beginning of the seasonand end of the season. The user-determined time is a time constraintbased on seasonal usage. The usage-frequency ranking is preferablysubject to the time constraint and is not modified further during theseason and off season.

As an example of the SOL mode of operation, an antihistamine could becategorized as seasonal for the spring and summer seasons. Theantihistamine could have a very low usage frequency ranking in the falland winter seasons but a high usage frequency ranking in the spring andsummer seasons. Average usage frequency of the antihistamine over aone-year moving-window period would result in a ranking lower than thatreflective of the seasonal usage and a ranking greater than the offseason usage. By annualizing the in-season and off-season data, system11 immediately anticipates the appropriate changes in the usagefrequency ranking of the seasonal product so that the product canreceive the appropriate seasonal usage-frequency ranking in block 211.This seasonal usage-frequency adjustment results in storage of theseasonal pharmaceutical product at the storage location (e.g., locations37-59) commensurate with the seasonal usage-frequency ranking asdescribed in connection with block 213.

The second step of the process occurs at block 213. At block 213,controller 63 next assigns an available storage location (e.g., location37-59) to the usage-frequency-ranked pharmaceutical product (based onprescription transactions, not total tablets used). The goal of thisassignment is to place each pharmaceutical product container (e.g.,container 13-19) at a storage location which is ranked with respect toease-of-accessibility to workstation 21 at approximately the sameease-of-accessibility ranking as its ranking with respect to usagefrequency.

Each storage location within system 11 is assigned anease-of-accessibility ranking at the time of system setup as previouslydescribed. These rankings result in a rank-ordering of all storagelocations (e.g., location 37-59) within a set, or subset if plural sizesor other types of locations are provided. Therefore, a storage locationthat is more easily accessible has a ranking higher in the rank-orderingof ease-of-accessibility than all of the storage locations which arejudged to be less-easily accessible. By way of example and as previouslydescribed, storage locations in a drawer 97 at a convenient height inmodule 25 at workstation 21 could have a higher (i.e., more favorable)ranking than storage locations in a drawer 115 in module 35 spaced fromworkstation 21.

The initial or updated storage location for the pharmaceutical productcontainer is determined as follows in block 213. Assume that the usagefrequency for the pharmaceutical product has a ranking of R within atotal rank-ordering range of from 1 to P, where P is the total number ofpharmaceutical products in the set or subset and 1 is the most favorableranking. The pharmaceutical product which has a usage frequency rankingof R+1 is stored at a location having an ease-of-accessibility rankingof E, and the pharmaceutical product which has a usage frequency rankingof R−1 is stored at a location having an ease-of-accessibility rankingof E−Δ. E and E−Δ are in the rank-ordering range of from 1 to L, where Lis the total number of storage locations in the set or subset and 1 isthe most favorable ranking. The symbol Δ represents the difference innumerical rank of the storage locations. Storage locations (e.g.,locations 37-59) which are more easily accessible to workstation 21 havea better ranking. In other words, a storage location with a ranking of 1is deemed more easily accessible than a storage location with a rankingof 10. Therefore, the storage location ranking represented by E−Δ ismore favorable than the storage location represented by E.

As previously described, L is always greater than P, and L−P is theexcess number of storage locations. The excess of storage locationsrepresents a cache of available storage locations within a set orsubset. L−P should be large enough to provide an adequate number ofavailable storage locations to permit the adaptive behavior of the COLmode to function. As an example only, L−P may represent approximately 4%to approximately 10% of the total storage locations L.

At block 213, system 11 attempts to identify an available storagelocation with an ease-of-accessibility ranking between E and E−Δ underthe constraint that there be at least X available storage locationswithin the group of Y storage locations in which the available storagelocation falls. For example, for Y=100 and X=4, groups of 100 aredefined by storage location ease-of-accessibility rankings of from1-100, 101-200, 201-300, etc. The 4% minimum of available storagelocations of each group would form the cache or buffer which allows theadaptive behavior of the placement system to function. If an availablestorage location satisfies the constraint, the pharmaceutical productcontainer will be placed randomly in one of the available storagelocations within the range of E and E−Δ. This designated storagelocation is the initial or updated storage location for thepharmaceutical product container.

If there are no available storage locations which satisfy theconstraints, then an available storage location is sought between thestorage locations having an ease-of-accessibility ranking of between,for example, E−Δand E−Δ−Z, where Z is a number of storage locations withmore favorable rankings above ranking E-Δ. For example, Z=100 means theone hundred storage locations having an ease-of-accessibility rankingmore favorable than E-Δ. If no available storage locations are withinthis category, then an available storage location is sought between thestorage locations having an ease-of-accessibility ranking between E+1and E+Z. This process is repeated, looking in alternating fashion aboveand below in the rankings, until an available storage location isidentified.

The choice for first looking outside the initial range (i.e., theinitial range is between E and E−Δ) for an available storage locationwith an ease-of-accessibility ranking more favorable in the range iscalled the “more-favorable-first strategy.” In order to more evenlydistribute available storage locations throughout the range of storagelocations in a set or subset, system 11 may include the use of both the“more-favorable-first strategy” and a “less-favorably-first strategy.”The less-favorable-first strategy is the inverse of that which wasdescribed for the more-favorable-first strategy. System 11 may beuser-configured to alternate between the more-favorable andless-favorable-first strategies, for example, based on even and odd daysof the calendar or some other means of determining alternation. So forexample, the more-favorable-first strategy is implemented on an evencalendar day, and the less-favorable-first strategy is implemented on anodd calendar day. The storage location assigned to the pharmaceuticalproduct container resulting from application of either themore-favorable- or less-favorable-first strategies would represent theinitial or updated storage location.

It is possible that two different pharmaceutical products can have thesame usage-frequency ranking resulting in a type of ranking “tie.” Anillustrative example can be used to illustrate the method performed bysystem 11 in the event of a tied pharmaceutical product ranking. Assumethat a hypothetical pharmaceutical product “A” and a hypotheticalpharmaceutical product “B” each have been used 500 times in a givenmoving-window usage-frequency determination in block 211. In thisillustrative example, both hypothetical pharmaceutical products mighthave a usage frequency ranking of “10.” If there were other ties, thenext pharmaceutical product having a more-favorable ranking than 10could be ranked “4,” and the next pharmaceutical product having a lessfavorable ranking than 10 could be ranked “12.” Since there would be noranked pharmaceutical product equivalent to either rankings R+1 and R−1in this example, system 11 defaults to the next more favorable rankedpharmaceutical product and the next less favorable ranked pharmaceuticalproduct and proceeds to perform the storage location determination asdescribed above based on the storage locations of the nextmore-favorable- and next less-favorable ranked pharmaceutical products.

This same storage location placement methodology is used within eachsubset of storage location and pharmaceutical product subsets. So, thesubset of refrigerated storage location types is stocked with perishablepharmaceutical products as just described, and so on, for eachpharmaceutical product size or type and storage location type.

Referring further to block 213, controller database 73 includes a recordof the unique barcode 141 along the bottom wall 135 of the assignedfixed-position storage location (e.g., location 37-59). The uniquebarcode 141 is used in a subsequent step 219 to confirm that thepharmaceutical product container (e.g., container 13-19) has beencorrectly placed in the assigned initial or updated storage location(e.g., locations 37-59).

The lower portion of FIG. 8 illustrates a highly simplified example ofstorage location assignment based on changes in pharmaceutical productusage frequency. Twelve storage locations are represented from modules25, 31 and 35. Each location is ranked from 1 to 12 based on ease ofaccess to workstation 21 as indicated in each storage location. As theusage-frequency ranking of the pharmaceutical product in container 13increases or decreases relative to usage frequency rankings of otherpharmaceutical products in the inventory set or subset, theease-of-accessibility ranking of the updated storage location ofcontainer 13 is changed. In this highly simplified example, if usagefrequency increases sufficiently, container 13 could move from the8th-ranked storage location to the 3rd-ranked storage location. If usagefrequency decreases sufficiently, container 13 could move from the5th-ranked location to the 9th-ranked location and so on.

In this way, system 11 assigns updated storage locations representingadaptation to changes in usage of pharmaceutical products by thepharmacy resulting in convenient and efficient storage distribution ofthe pharmaceutical product containers relative to the workstation 21.New and partially-full containers with a pharmaceutical product beingused more frequently (on a rank-order basis) migrate to storagelocations more easily accessible (on a rank-order basis) to theworkstation 21 while those pharmaceutical products which areexperiencing decreased usage frequency migrate to storage locations lesseasily accessible to workstation 21.

Referring now to block 215 of FIG. 9A, block 215 is entered if thepharmaceutical product in the pharmaceutical product container (e.g.,containers 13-19) is to be placed into inventory using either of theAOL, UOL or SR modes. The AOL and UOL modes do not require anydetermination of the priority of the pharmaceutical product (block 211)because the user has already designated the storage locations to whichthe container should be placed either based on alphabetical sortingusing each pharmaceutical product's name (AOL mode) or based on otheruser-designated storage location determinations (UOL mode). Theuser-designated storage locations for each pharmaceutical productcontainer are maintained in database 73.

As in block 213, the assigned storage location (e.g., location 37-59)represents the initial or updated storage location. Controller database73 includes a record of the unique barcode 141 associated with theinitial or updated storage location used in the confirmation step inblock 219 below.

At block 217, for each of the COL, POL, SOL, AOL, UOL and SR modes, theassigned storage location is indicated to the user by means of OPSsystem 75 and activation of the appropriate visual indicator 79.Controller 63 outputs a signal to visual indicator controller 77 whichactivates the visual indicator 79 at the assigned storage location. Lamp145 is energized to indicate the drawer into which the pharmaceuticalproduct container (e.g., containers 13-19) should be placed. Visualindicator controller 77 also activates displays 147, 149 to indicaterespectively, the row and column of the storage location (e.g.,locations 37-59) into which the pharmaceutical product container is tobe placed.

Use of multi-color-emitting LED lamps 145 as illustrated in FIGS. 7A, 7Band 7C and as previously described in connection with OPS 75, wouldenable multiple users to simultaneously place pharmaceutical productcontainers into inventory and to pick pharmaceutical product containersto fulfill patient prescription orders.

At block 219, the user accesses the indicated assigned storage locationand scans barcode 141 along the bottom wall 135 of the assigned storagelocation with barcode scanner 71. The barcode 141 data string is outputfrom barcode scanner 71 to controller 63.

At decision point 221, controller 63 determines whether the scannedstorage location is correct for the storage location. The storagelocation is correct if the scanned barcode data string from scanning ofthe storage location barcode 141 at block 219 matches the expectedbarcode data string for the assigned storage location from block 213(for COL, POL and SOL modes) or block 215 (For AOL and UOL modes). Ifthere is a match, the process proceeds to block 223.

If there is no match, then at block 225 controllers 63, 77 send a signalto visual indicator 79 of OPS system 75 causing lamp 145 to blink. Theblinking lamp 145 is indicative that the user selected the wrong storagelocation. The blinking lamp 145 prompts the user to return back to block217 and to scan the barcode 141 of the correct storage location. If therepeat of blocks 217 and 219 results in further blinking of lamp 145 atblock 225, then the user must stop the process and determine the sourceof the error.

At block 223, the user places the pharmaceutical product container intothe indicated storage location. The user may manually enter the lotnumber 163 and expiration date 165 of the container into controller 63by means of touch-screen display 65, keyboard 67 or mouse 69 so that thelot number 163 and expiration date 165 are associated with the recordfor the container in database 73. A record of the date and time ofplacement of the pharmaceutical product container into the storagelocation based on the match at point 221 is created in database 73.Database 73 now includes a complete record of the pharmaceutical productstored at the indicated storage location including the pharmaceuticalproduct type and quantity, the container size, and the lot number andexpiration date of the pharmaceutical product. Database 73 is alsoupdated so that the total quantity of the pharmaceutical product type ininventory, including the quantity of pharmaceutical product just addedto inventory, is known.

At block 227, the pharmaceutical product container is deemed stored insystem 11 at its initial or updated storage location and the processends at 228.

Pharmaceutical Product Container Selection and Prescription Fulfillment

Referring now to FIGS. 9C and 9D, a process for prescription fulfillmentand selection of the pharmaceutical product container containing therequired pharmaceutical product is described. The process is entered atstart 229. At block 231, a user at workstation 21 sets system in a“pick” mode in the same manner as selection of the “place” mode in block205. Also in block 231, the user selects a patient prescription forfulfillment. Selection of a prescription for fulfillment may beaccomplished in any suitable manner such as by scanning a barcode onprescription paperwork generated by the pharmacy (not shown) withbarcode scanner 71 or selecting a prescription displayed on display 65with mouse 69. The selection is output to controller 63 which accesses arecord in database 73 for the prescription which includes thepharmaceutical product type, strength, and quantity required to fulfillthe patient prescription.

At block 233, controller 63 determines the storage location (e.g.,locations 37-59) at which a pharmaceutical product container (e.g.,containers 13-19) containing the required product is located. Becausethe full and partially-full pharmaceutical product containers (e.g.,containers 13-19) were preferably put away based on actual usagefrequency, and/or anticipated usage frequency based on seasonal usage,the containers most likely to be needed to fulfill the prescription willbe most easily and efficient accessible to the user at workstation 21.If the AOL or UOL modes were used, the pharmaceutical product containeris at a user-designated storage location.

Determination of the storage location can include consideration ofexpiration date or the date a drug was entered into inventory for casesin which there are plural containers of the same pharmaceutical productin inventory. As previously described, lot number 163 and expirationdate 165 can be entered into database 73 at block 223 so as to enableFEFO-based (first-expiration, first-out) inventory management. System 11can determine the storage location of the container for thepharmaceutical product closest to expiration so that such container andproduct is used first to fulfill the patient prescription. A FIFO-basedrule (first-in, first-out) can be applied in the same way using the datethat the pharmaceutical product was first placed into inventory.

SR mode designation for a pharmaceutical product may result inidentification of a pharmaceutical product container according tospecial user-determined rules. One special rule example is limitingaccess to a particular pharmaceutical container to a select group ofpharmacy patients, such as persons who are participants in a particularhealth-care program.

At block 235, the determined storage location is indicated to the userby activation of the appropriate visual indicator 79. Controller 63outputs a signal to visual indicator controller 77 which activates theOPS system 75 visual indicator 79 at the determined storage location.Lamp 145 is energized to indicate the drawer from which thepharmaceutical product container (e.g., containers 13-19) should bepicked. Visual indicator controller 77 also activates displays 147, 149to indicate respectively, the row and column of the storage location(e.g., locations 37-59) from which the pharmaceutical product containeris to be picked (e.g., FIG. 7A or 7B or 7C).

At block 237, the user goes to the indicated storage location (e.g.,locations 37-59), picks the pharmaceutical product container (e.g.,container 13-19) from the location and scans the container barcode 157with barcode scanner 71. The barcode 157 data string is output frombarcode scanner 71 to controller 63.

At decision point 239, controller 63 determines whether the scannedbarcode data string from block 237 matches the expected barcode for thepharmaceutical product associated with the patient prescription residingin the record for the prescription in database 73. If there is a match,the process proceeds to block 243.

If there is no match, then at block 241 controller 63 sends a signal tovisual indicator 79 causing lamp 145 to blink. The blinking lamp 145 isindicative that the user selected the wrong pharmaceutical productcontainer (e.g., container 13-19). The blinking lamp 145 prompts theuser to return back to block 237 and to rescan the barcode 157 of thepharmaceutical product container. If the repeat of blocks 237 and 239results in further blinking of lamp 145 at block 241, then the user muststop the process and determine the source of the error.

At block 243, the user removes the pharmaceutical product container(e.g., 13-19) and initiates fulfillment of the patient prescription atworkstation 21 with the selected pharmaceutical product container.

A result of blocks 237, 239 and 243 is that controller 63 database 73 isupdated to indicate that the pharmaceutical product container (e.g.,container 13-19) has been removed from the indicated storage location.The now-unoccupied storage location is available to store apharmaceutical product container and is added to the cache of availablestorage locations. Database 73 is updated to reflect that thenow-available storage location is part of the cache.

At decision point 245, a determination is made regarding whether thereis sufficient pharmaceutical product in the selected pharmaceuticalproduct container (e.g., container 13-19) with which to fulfill thepatient prescription. This could be a particular issue when apartially-full container has been designated to be picked from storageby controller 63. If there is sufficient pharmaceutical product, thenthe process proceeds to block 251.

Block 247 is entered if there is insufficient pharmaceutical product inthe selected pharmaceutical product container. The user enters thequantity of pharmaceutical product available in the selected containerinto controller 63 by means of touch-screen display 65, or keyboard 67,or mouse 69. At block 247, controller 63 decrements the quantity ofpharmaceutical product used thus far from the total count of thepharmaceutical product in inventory. The now-empty pharmaceuticalproduct container can be discarded.

Continuing with block 247, controller 63 determines the storage location(e.g., locations 37-59) at which another pharmaceutical productcontainer (e.g., containers 13-19) containing the required product islocated. Preferably this further pharmaceutical product container wasalso put away based on implementation of the COL, POL and/or SOL modesso as to be easily and efficiently accessible to the user at workstation21 based on frequency of use of the pharmaceutical product.

At block 249, the determined storage location is indicated to the userby activation of the appropriate visual indicator 79 of OPS system 75 aspreviously described for block 235.

Blocks 237, 241, 243 and point 239 are repeated as previously describeduntil the result of decision point 245 is yes indicative that sufficientpharmaceutical product has been obtained to fulfill the prescription.Thereafter, block 251 is entered.

At block 251, controller 63 decrements the total count of thepharmaceutical product from inventory and automatically records theprescription fulfillment transaction in database 73 including the date,time, medication type and quantity provided in fulfillment of theprescription. This record of medication and quantity usage is used insubsequent usage-frequency rankings at step 211 as previously describedin order to provide an updated storage location to the next full orpartially-full container being placed into storage.

At block 253, if any pharmaceutical product remains in thepharmaceutical product container (e.g., container 13-19) after countingout the quantity required to fulfill the patient prescription, then theclosure 153 or 155 is placed back on the container, and the container isplaced into a restock bin 167 to await return to inventory.Alternatively, the user could immediately return the partially-fullcontainer to inventory by following the process previously describedwith respect to steps 201-227. If all of the pharmaceutical product hasbeen removed from the container then the container can be discarded.

The process ends at 255. A further prescription can now be selected forfulfilment and the process of blocks/decision points 229-255 is repeateduntil all prescriptions in a prescription order are fulfilled.

Another aspect of the system 11 and methods performed by system 11 islot number and expiration date tracking. As previously described, thelot number 163 and expiration date 165 of each pharmaceutical productcontainer can be entered into database 73 of controller 63 at block 223.Database 73 continuously associates the lot number 163 and expirationdate 165 with the pharmaceutical product container from the point ofinduction of the into system 11 (block 227) until the container isremoved from inventory or discarded (block 253). As previouslydescribed, controller 63 can designate that pharmaceutical product beselected from inventory on a FEFO basis so as to maintain activepharmaceutical product in the pharmacy inventory and to ensure thatpatients are provided with the highest-quality pharmaceutical product.

In addition to providing FEFO-type inventory management, controller 63can alert the user in advance of the expiration date 165 by, forexample, displaying a message on display 65, so that the container(e.g., container 13-15) can be removed from inventory by the user andreturned for refund to the manufacturer. This is particularly useful forpharmaceutical products which are used infrequently and which may existin partially-full containers in inventory. The alerts can be provided atany user-configurable time increment or increments in advance of theexpiration date 165.

The monetary refund paid by the manufacturer to the pharmacy forreturned pharmaceutical product can be greater if relatively more timeexists before the expiration date. By providing an alert or alerts aboutthe expiration date, the pharmacy is able to timely determine whetherpharmaceutical product containers (e.g., containers 13-19) should beremoved from inventory and returned to the manufacturer for refund.Pharmaceutical product refunds can represent a significant source ofincome to the pharmacy, particularly when the alternative is to simplydiscard unused expired pharmaceutical products.

Tracking of lot number 163 provides the user with a further degree ofcontrol over the pharmaceutical products in inventory that would not beavailable if the lot number 163 of each pharmaceutical product ininventory was not known. For example, if a batch of a pharmaceuticalproduct is recalled by the manufacturer, the user can enter the lotnumber 163 into controller 63 and database 73 will identify the storagelocation (e.g., locations 37-59) of each pharmaceutical productcontainer (e.g., containers 13-19) with that lot number. Visualindicator controller 77 can activate the relevant visual indicator 79 orindicators 79 to indicate the storage location (e.g., containers 13-19)to a user. The identified pharmaceutical product containers could thenbe easily removed from storage and returned to the manufacturer.

Lot number tracking also permits the pharmacy to identify any patientwho has been provided with pharmaceutical product from the relevant lotbecause the lot number 163 from the container (e.g., containers 13-19)used to fulfill the prescription is associated with each fulfilledprescription in database 73. In the event of a recall, the pharmacy cancontact each patient and advise the patient to return any unusedpharmaceutical product.

Another aspect of system 11 and the methods performed by system 11 ismanagement of the inventory of pharmaceutical product containers (e.g.,containers 13-19) in a way which provides improved security andtheft-deterrence. Although very much the exception, there have beeninstances of theft of pharmaceutical products stored in the inventory ofpharmaceutical product containers (e.g., containers 13-19). Entirecontainers (e.g., containers 13-19) can be taken or separate tablets canbe taken from a container.

As previously noted, a benefit of the dense storage provided by system11 is that pharmaceutical product containers (e.g., containers 13-19)are not required to be grouped together by pharmaceutical product typeand can be distributed among any of the storage locations (e.g.,locations 37-59) which can accommodate the container size andpharmaceutical product type.

This distribution is a theft deterrent for several reasons. One reasonis that particular pharmaceutical product containers (e.g., containers13-19) can be difficult to locate. Pharmaceutical product containerstend to be look-alike monochromatic plastic bottles as illustrated inFIGS. 2A and 2B. And, the storage locations (e.g, locations 37-59) ofsystem 11 can look alike. Consequently, containers for more theft-pronepharmaceutical products are difficult to readily distinguish from anyother container. Since the pharmaceutical product containers (e.g.,containers 13-19) are not required to be stored at a specific shelflocation and since the containers tend to look alike, the moretheft-prone pharmaceutical products can, in effect, be concealed amongthe containers forming the inventory of pharmaceutical productcontainers. And, system 11 can be configured to require movement ofhigh-value containers (e.g., narcotics, viagra, etc.) to a new storagelocation (e.g., locations 37-59) each time the container is touched.Thus, system 11 provides a deterrent against theft by “hiding” or“camouflaging” more theft-prone containers among the entirety of allother containers stored by system 11.

While the principles of this invention have been described in connectionwith specific embodiments, it should be understood clearly that thesedescriptions are made only by way of example and are not intended tolimit the scope of the invention.

1. A method for adaptive storage of pharmaceutical products at pluralstorage locations having rankings based on relativeease-of-accessibility to a pharmacy workstation so that more frequentlyused products are more easily accessible based on updated product usagefrequency rankings, the method comprising: placing plural pharmaceuticalproduct containers into storage locations each having anease-of-accessibility ranking, there being an excess of storagelocations to permit adaptive placement of containers into storagelocations; creating a database record of the storage location of eachcontainer; automatically visually indicating the storage location of acontainer for a pharmaceutical product required for prescriptionfulfillment; picking the container from the indicated storage location;fulfilling the prescription with product from the container; updatingthe database to indicate use of the product; determining a usagefrequency ranking of the product; determining an updated storagelocation for a container of the product based on the usage frequencyranking of the product, the updated storage location having anease-of-accessibility ranking commensurate with the usage frequencyranking of the product; automatically visually indicating the updatedstorage location; and placing the product container at the indicatedupdated location.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the storage locationease-of-accessibility rankings are based on time required for a human toaccess the storage locations from the workstation.
 3. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the storage location ease-of-accessibility rankings arebased on relative distance of the storage locations from theworkstation.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the storage locations arein drawers and the storage location ease-of-accessibility rankings arebased on relative distance of the storage locations from a drawer front.5. The method of claim 4 wherein the drawers are stacked and the storagelocation ease-of-accessibility rankings are further based on therelative distance of the storage locations from a mid-point of thedrawer stack.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the storage locations aregrouped into subsets based on storage location size or type and thestorage location ease-of-accessibility rankings are determined withineach subset.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein creating a database recordof the storage location of each container further includes associating acode on the container with a code of the indicated storage location. 8.The method of claim 7 associating includes: reading a barcode on thecontainer; reading a barcode of the storage location; and associatinginformation from the barcodes.
 9. The method of claim 1 whereinautomatically visually indicating includes energizing a visual indicatorindicating the storage location.
 10. The method of claim 1 whereinautomatically visually indicating includes energizing at least one lampof the visual indicator indicating the storage location.
 11. The methodof claim 10 wherein the at least one lamp outputs a color selected froma plurality of colors and automatically visually indicating furtherincludes energizing the at least one lamp to emit a color associatedwith a user of a group of concurrent users to direct the user to thestorage location.
 12. The method of claim 1 wherein determining anupdated storage location further includes a time constraint so that theupdated storage location is the same as the storage location into whichthe container was placed if the time since the last change of storagelocation is less than a predetermined time period, thereby slowing therate at which the storage location of the container for thepharmaceutical is changed.
 13. The method of claim 1 determining a usagefrequency ranking of the product further includes anticipating increasedusage frequency for a seasonal product.
 14. The method of claim 13wherein anticipating increased usage further includes determining theusage frequency ranking based on seasonal data only.
 15. The method ofclaim 1 further including, after fulfilling the prescription, placingthe container in a restocking bin to await placement back into a storagelocation.
 16. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a usagefrequency ranking of the product includes determining usage during amoving-window time period.
 17. The method of claim 1 wherein determiningthe updated storage location further includes distributing the excessstorage locations throughout the set of storage locations.
 18. Themethod of claim 17 wherein distributing the excess storage locationsfurther includes maintaining at least a minimum number of empty storagelocations in each of a group of storage locations.
 19. The method ofclaim 1 wherein creating the database record of the storage location ofeach container further includes creating a database record of theexpiration date of the pharmaceutical product in the container.
 20. Themethod of claim 19 wherein the storage locations hold plural containersof the same product and automatically visually indicating the storagelocation of the container includes indicating the storage location ofthe container having an earlier expiration date.
 21. The method of claim1 wherein creating the database record of the storage location of eachcontainer further includes creating a database record of the lot numberof the pharmaceutical product in the container.
 22. The method of claim1 further including securing the containers against theft by placingeach containers at a different storage location after each use.